Shane Newell (left), 12, of Atascadero, raises his arm with Nick Gaensler (right), 11, of San Francisco, after he answered a trivia question to win a marble at 826 Valencia, a pirate supply store and a nonprofit dedicated to helping children and young adults develop writing skills. less

Shane Newell (left), 12, of Atascadero, raises his arm with Nick Gaensler (right), 11, of San Francisco, after he answered a trivia question to win a marble at 826 Valencia, a pirate supply store and a ... more

Like you, I've often been frustrated at the lack of a quality pirate supply store nearby. When I need an eye patch or a peg leg or a leech for gangrene, I've been forced to travel all the way to 826 Valencia, which for 12 years has been billed as "the finest pirate supply store in San Francisco."

That sounds like high praise, but pirate store salesperson Byron Weiss says it may not go far enough.

"I would venture to say it is the finest pirate store on the West Coast," he said.

But that might not be true for long. We have just learned that 826 Valencia is planning to open a branch in the Tenderloin in the fall of 2015. Finally, a place to pick up spyglasses and raw lard in the center of the city.

Oh yes, and one more thing. In addition to pirate products, the store will provide free tutoring, writing classes and interactive field trips for underserved kids.

That, of course, is the real goal of the facility, which was founded in 2002 by author Dave Eggers - who wrote the Pulitzer Prize finalist "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" - and educator Ninive Calegari. As it says in the mission statement, the goal is "supporting students ages 6-18 with their writing skills and ... helping teachers get their students excited about the literary arts."

The store is an unqualified success. Nazarian says they have some 6,000 kids a year participate in the programs, from make-a-book workshops to creative writing. And it is all free.

"We have a writing table, evening tutoring, college access counseling and drop-in tutoring every Sunday," she says. "Every morning a class comes in (from a local school) for a two-hour book-making experience."

Although it's a big success now, Nazarian says it was a bit of a slow build.

"At first we just put a sign out front that said 'Free Tutoring,' " she says. "But it turns out parents don't just drop their kids off with strangers."

But they continued to work with the community in the Mission, focusing on low-income schools and students. Gradually, families and kids bought into the wacky pirate concept and began to stop in to work on polishing their writing skills - sometimes while wearing an eye patch.

The results have been gratifying. This year the center is highlighting former pirate Daisy Guzman, who first came to the store when she was in the fourth grade.

"She just finished her freshman year at Berkeley, where she is on scholarship and doing really well," Nazarian said. "This summer she interned and taught in our camp. It's been amazing to see her."

Naturally, there were those who thought it sounded like a great program for the low-income kids who live in the Tenderloin.

"Our board has been talking about expanding for a number of years," Nazarian said. "We understand the need; we just needed the donor interest."

Recently, the program received what it calls "a large grant from an anonymous foundation to begin planning for a second site in the Tenderloin neighborhood."

People have already begun to ask if the Tenderloin site will go full pirate.

"We will see, won't we?" says Nazarian. "It is going to be pirate-themed, but it will have its own whimsical interaction."

Surely they will want to include the most-discussed product at 826 - a tub of lard - which has been on the floor for years.

"Our lard is aged, to be polite," says Weiss. "We trade human hair for it. As long as you bring your own container, you can take home as much as you want."